pentagon acquisition reform

Marine Corps budgets in the coming years may be more focused on the company, platoon and squad levels, with the service trying to empower lower echelons that will operate with more independence in dispersed operations. – USNI NewsMilley has warned before that “we are on the cusp of a fundamental change in the character of ground warfare,.” (The nature of war remains eternally brutal and chaotic). But yesterday at the Association of the US Army’s annual Eisenhower Luncheon, the notoriously blunt general laid out his vision of future combat in more and grimmer detail than I’d ever heard — detail that suggests he’s informed by an intensifying program of secret wargames. – Breaking Defense

After a generation spent fighting guerrillas, the Marines have just rolled out a new concept for high-tech combat against a nation-state — a concept they’re developing in unusually close concert with the Army and Navy. – Breaking DefenseThe Marine Corps today released a new operating concept that updates its 2014 Expeditionary Force 21 to include a renewed emphasis on maneuver warfare, while retaining an emphasis on operations in an urban littoral environment against a technologically sophisticated enemy. – USNI NewsThe Marine Corps wants to change how troops get from ship to shore. And they’re willing to consider just about anything to do it. – Military.com

On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, Russian-backed infantry and artillery units have used more than 16 types of drones to identify enemy positions and deliver fire, often within minutes. That’s given Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the decorated tank commander who runs the U.S. Army’s Capabilities Integration Center cause for concern. – Defense OneThere’s no doubt in the Army’s Capability Integration Center chief’s mind that the Army must hone its close-combat skills, even as some have suggested America will fight future wars from a safe distance using mostly long-range strike weapons. – Defense News

Navy ReformThe Navy deep-sixed all of its 91 enlisted ratings titles Thursday, marking the beginning of an overhaul of the rigid career structure that has existed since the Continental Navy in a radical shift sure to reverberate through the fleet and the veterans community beyond. – Military Times

The Pentagon’s new Defense Innovation Board had its first meeting Thursday, but it was clear the 15-member panel had been busy over the previous months. – Defense NewsInterview: In two separate interviews just prior to the Association of the US Army’s annual conference, Defense News sat down with the top Army acquisition leaders – acquisition chief Katrina McFarland and her military deputy Lt. Gen. Michael Williamson -- to talk about how the service’s effort to reform acquisition is taking shape and its procurement priorities based on a concentrated assessment on the present and future threat picture. – Defense News

The Navy and the Marine Corps are studying installing a vertical launch system in its San Antonio class of amphibious warships that would allow the ships to field larger offensive missiles, service officials told USNI News this week. – USNI News

Brad Carson and Morgan Plummer write: The Pentagon just doesn’t work very well, despite having a plethora of talented people both in and out of uniform…Much of the bureaucratic pathology has to do with the organizational design. Everyone seems to know this, but few have the ambition to identify the problems clearly. But if the next secretary of defense is going to have a fighting chance at rare success, the first move must be against a system that simply can’t deliver on its promise. Tough work to be sure, but it’s the free world at stake. – War on The Rocks

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross writes: Unfortunately, a look at the intersection of analytic error and policy failure leaves us in the same place where we were 15 years ago. The United States does not understand the enemy well enough, and this impedes our ability to craft effective policy. Good policy can only emerge from a solid understanding of the adversary. We still do not have that. – New York Daily News

Example: The B-21 BomberMackenzie Eaglen writes: It’s time for a fundamental re-evaluation of how the national security community thinks and talks about the new B-21 bomber. The stealthy, long-range, modular bomber will aptly replace old and outdated systems. But, equally importantly, it will enable the Air Force to adapt to the changing nature of aerial warfare. As a result, the Air Force can rebuild its traditional ethos as a hotbed for innovation and service leader in the new doctrine, fresh concepts, and cutting-edge technologies to ensure American air superiority for the next generation. – Real Clear Defense

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford on Wednesday previewed a soon-to-be-finalized National Military Strategy, saying that developing international alliances and projecting power to faraway places will be the two key tenets of the classified document. – Defense News

The Pentagon’s new Defense Innovation Board had its first meeting Thursday, but it was clear the 15-member panel had been busy over the previous months. The board came out with a series of rough recommendations for Secretary of Defense Ash Carter — or his successor — that they believe will lead to injecting a culture of innovation into the Pentagon. – Defense News

In the movie Eye in the Sky, a joint U.S.-British military operation puts an insect-sized drone inside the house of a terrorist. The live feed allows the onlookers in Washington, London, and elsewhere to verify the target and collect data that would be inaccessible from a sensor ball mounted on a Predator flying overhead. A San Diego company called Shield AI is bringing that vision to life. – Defense One

The US Navy is test-firing and upgrading its arsenal of Trident II D5 nuclear-armed submarine launched missiles designed to keep international peace -- by ensuring and undersea-fired second-strike ability in the event of a catastrophic nuclear first strike on the US. – Scout WarriorNavy SEALs infiltrating by sea are about to get more lethal. SEALs will soon have new underwater vehicles delivering them to targets that officials say will make a huge difference during missions. – The Hill